[X] You're wrong
"And what kind of person do you think I am?" You reach out with one hand and take Chalcedony by the shoulder, forcing her eyes to meet yours. Rage and pain flashes in her gaze, fresh wounds still bleeding despite the bandages. "This is the world you live in now, Chalcedony. Hate won't change it."
I trust these guys want to be paid and want to have a good fight. By who and against who is up for grabs. That's the kind of people they strike me as. As long as we pay them and give them the fight they want, they'll be 'loyal'. They're Mercs, they may not play by our rules, but they will play by their's, and that means following the guy who pays them.
But that doesn't mean trusting them, just trusting that they'll play their role.
Called it.
Plus I thought our crews were fine as is, but well, drama ahoy!
[X] You're right
Because again, even if the Mercenaries are on the level, I dunno if the Princess can take it calmly enough to work with them. We do the one job and then the Mercs are gone, ideally.
We pissed off the tsundere enough and mercs are not trustworthy in our line of job. By the way QM, I would recommend that you include the winning vote in the update itself or in a final tally before the chapter, so that those reading the quest can keep track of the chosen choices so far.
[X] You're right
"I don't." You reach out with one hand, and when Chalcedony doesn't shy away you let it rest on her shoulder. "But I trust you. To keep a clear head, and to get us through this." You meet her eyes, and try to look past the rage and pain of the princess, to see the pilot underneath. "Do you trust me?"
[X] You're wrong
"And what kind of person do you think I am?" You reach out with one hand and take Chalcedony by the shoulder, forcing her eyes to meet yours. Rage and pain flashes in her gaze, fresh wounds still bleeding despite the bandages. "This is the world you live in now, Chalcedony. Hate won't change it."
Alright, let's discuss the kind of character and person we want to be.
Right now, it seems that we're not going for the 'good' Captain who tries to keep as many of their crew happy as can be. Which, is fine. But, we're also throwing away the woman who got us this deal in the first place. That is a betrayal in and of itself. That speaks volumes to me of what we are doing with the protagonist, and the road we are going on.
Mind, we can always try to have August turn around later, but do we really want to just act like one of out three pilots(including ourselves) is not important enough to at least pretend to care about her feelings? This will be twice now that we have gone against what she wanted, although the first time around would have been suicidal. This time around is not as much of a life and death matter, although it may prove to be later.
Could someone clarify to me why we're choosing to upset one fo our pilots?
Can we know if there are any other technologies like the Sybil out there that would prove to be useful or any other upgrades to our mecha or ship that would be useful?
Right now, it seems that we're not going for the 'good' Captain who tries to keep as many of their crew happy as can be. Which, is fine. But, we're also throwing away the woman who got us this deal in the first place. That is a betrayal in and of itself. That speaks volumes to me of what we are doing with the protagonist, and the road we are going on.
Mind, we can always try to have August turn around later, but do we really want to just act like one of out three pilots(including ourselves) is not important enough to at least pretend to care about her feelings? This will be twice now that we have gone against what she wanted, although the first time around would have been suicidal. This time around is not as much of a life and death matter, although it may prove to be later.
Not necessarily. She got us a deal which is just as likely as not to get us all killed. We are taking steps to prevent that, and looking out for the crew. Which includes a lot more men than Chalcedony.
Chalcedony has quite an upkeep, one that we are paying in lives:
"Fifteen men," Johann says, his voice like a stone in the middle of Chalcedony's river of words. You turn to glance at him, surprised to hear him speak out of turn like that.
It makes sense for us to act so that it doesn't happen again, even if it goes against her wishes.
She was the one who got us the deal. We are the one who decide how to best fulfil it. We were short on marines, so we took on some extras. That's all there is to it.
Unless the Vipers stab us in the back or prioritize their own mission over our orders, our crew will be thankful for them when the time comes to get close and personal with our enemies.
1.) Don't look at me, I wasn't the one voting for it. But if I had to advocate for the choice...
2.) Not necessarily. She got us a deal which is just as likely as not to get us all killed. We are taking steps to prevent that, and looking out for the crew. Which includes a lot more men than Chalcedony.
3.) Chalcedony has quite an upkeep, one that we are paying in lives:
4.) She was the one who got us the deal. We are the one who decide how to best fulfil it. We were short on marines, so we took on some extras. That's all there is to it.
It's more that it's hard for me to argue back since I am essentially of the same opinion, if for slightly different reasons.
I am sceptical of the deal we've made, hiring mercenaries at a discount. People willing to do anything for money, turning it down for payback? Aren't they supposed to be a professional outfit? Even if we view it as a business transaction - we pay them to work for us, they pay us to give them a lift - the end result is that we hired on a bunch of cutthroats that are only loosely tied to us because we aren't paying them that much.
Maybe they have a reputation to uphold and it's worth more to them than money. We'll see.
Because I honestly don't think she trusts us. We haven't spent time with her at all, and went against what she wants so far. Now that she's roped us into this, she has to understand that what we're doing at this point is because we want to make sure we pull this off.
"I don't." You reach out with one hand, and when Chalcedony doesn't shy away you let it rest on her shoulder. "But I trust you. To keep a clear head, and to get us through this." You meet her eyes, and try to look past the rage and pain of the princess, to see the pilot underneath. "Do you trust me?"
Some emotion flashes in Chalcedony's eyes, or perhaps it's a string of emotions, blurring together so quickly that they appear to be one – but the details are a mystery to you. You know so little of Chalcedony Romanet, the princess turned exile turned pirate, save that she has stubbornness enough to spare and is hell in a mecha. For a moment you're afraid that she'll storm off, but then she runs a hand through her hair and sighs as if she's about to drop from the weariness. "I guess I've got to," she says, meeting your eyes with a sad resignation. "I've pinned a lot on you, Eberhardt."
She brushes past you as she makes her way back to the Ahriman, and you stand and watch her go.
*
Even pushing the Ahriman to its limit, the ship exhaling a huge column of smoky rainbow light as the desert races by, the trip to Sett takes you more than a month. You maintain limited contact with Mandalay as you sail, mostly routine comms checks to confirm relative positions, but for the most part the Ahriman journeys alone across the vast dunes.
Your headlong flight, and the massive amounts of PRISM that you dump into the atmosphere, attracts the attention of a few kaiju – but only a small swarm of Class C and a slow, lumbering Class B that ineffectually breathes PRISM at you as you rocket past its lair. The Ahriman's guns are more than enough to protect it, giving you plenty of time to get yourself acquainted with the various Setti political figures that you'll be meeting when you arrive at the city. Johann is of course there to help you, providing context and opinion to round out the information you can pull from the net, offering what limited perspective he can given the number of years it's been since he set foot in the city of his birth.
Chalcedony, you see less frequently. She avoids the lower decks, where the Striking Vipers mingle with your permanent crew, spending most of her time either on the bridge or in her quarters. She doesn't actively avoid you, and seems perfectly happy to speak with you when the two of you run into one another, but she doesn't actively seek you out, and rarely initiates conversation. Your technicians tell you that she's made several calls to Mandalay's ship, but out of respect for her privacy you decline to dig any further. For the moment, at least, she seems committed to remaining part of the Ahriman's crew. If, at some point soon, she chooses to jump to the Baba Yaga…well, that's her right as a Free Pilot.
It's early in the morning , just past sunrise on the fourth week of your journey, when Cecilia pings you from the bridge. Caught in the middle of your morning exercises, drenched in sweat and not yet showered, your first instinct is to let her handle whatever the issue is – but then she pings you again, urgent.
Sweat is still dripping from your clothes and hair when you arrive at the bridge, Johann close behind. Chalcedony is already there, perched on a chair like an eager cat, winding her hair in two tight pigtails. The bridge crew is on full alert, chattering amongst themselves, monitoring the ship's vital functions, ensuring that the rest of the crew is where they need to be to handle whatever crises awaits. A dizzying array of lights flash, holographic warnings blinking in and out of existence as new problems arise.
"Talk to me," you tell Cecilia, taking a seat in the Captain's chair. Cecilia fiddles with her console, and a holographic map appears before you. You recognize the glowing dot that represents the Ahriman, closing in towards Sett, which still sits a few hundred miles to the north.
A holographic face appears next to the map. A sharp chin, a delicate mouth, and a crooked nose sit in stark contrast to extensive cybernetic implants that cover the upper half of the face, wires and circuits completely obscuring the eyes and head. "Captain Eberhardt," the face says respectfully.
"Sibyl." You try not to let surprise or disquiet show on your face. "What's happening?"
"I have detected a PRISM signature moving towards us from the northwest," the sibyl says, highlighting another dot that is approaching the Ahriman at speed. "Preliminary analysis of its spectrum pattern marks it as a Setti vessel."
You whirl towards Cecilia. "I thought we were supposed to cut emissions before we were within sibyl range."
"We are well outside even upper estimates of Setti sibyl network range, Captain," the sibyl says before Cecilia can speak. "It appears this ship was waiting for us far ahead of the rest of the network, housing it's own sibyl."
"Have we pinged Mandalay?"
"She says it's not a friend," Cecilia says, her mouth a tight line. "Her records say the ship belongs to Taavi bin Faisal."
You grit your teeth. Taavi is Rhea's older brother, a notorious playboy and practiced politician – and one of the frontrunners for the throne. "Guess he knew we were coming. What's the Baba Yaga's status?"
"It has altered course and is moving in, but they're nearly an hour away."
You can't stop yourself from swearing loudly. It had been necessary, to keep apart – with the rate both your ships are emitting PRISM, sticking together would've been begging for a Class A attack – but of course now it's come to bite you in the ass. "Angle towards them."
"Already done."
"What's the timing?"
"The Setti ship is currently warming up a secondary PRISM engine," the sibyl warns, her voice quiet and detached. "They will overtake us before we can rendezvous with the Baba Yaga…here." She highlights an area on the map. "They have also activated four mecha. I can't determine their classes at this distance."
"So it's gonna be a sortie." You turn to Johann and Chalcedony. "Get dressed and get to the bay. Are the mecha prepped?"
"They will be," Cecilia assures you as Johann and Chalcedony race for the elevator. "What's the play, Captain?"
[] Keep running
"Rendezvous with Mandalay is top priority. Mecha will stay on the exterior of the ship and repel attempts at boarding. Keep us safe until we have the numbers."
[] Turn and fight
"Wait until they're close, then throw us into reverse. Mecha will disembark and the Ahriman will throw everything it has at the approaching ship. Kick their teeth in before they can get the upper hand."
Additionally, choose your mecha loadout:
[] Hit 'Em Hard
Anti-Material Rifle (Heavy, Range 20, 2d6 dam)
Mortar (Main, Range 15, 1d6+1 dam)
Hand Cannon (Auxiliary, Range 5, 2 dam)
Tactical Knife (Auxiliary, Range 1, 1d3+1 dam)
[] Hit 'Em Fast
Heavy Machine Gun (Heavy, Range 8, 2d6+4 dam)
Assault Rifle (Main, Range 10, 1d6 dam)
Pistol (Auxiliary, Range 5, 1d3)
Tactical Knife (Auxiliary, Range 1, 1d3+1 dam)
Lead or Inspire (+2)
Give an inspiring speech, or motivate a group of people into action; efficiently and effectively administer organizations like companies, ship crews, groups of colonists or mining ventures; effectively command a platoon of soldiers in battle, or maybe an entire army.
[] Keep running
"Rendezvous with Mandalay is top priority. Mecha will stay on the exterior of the ship and repel attempts at boarding. Keep us safe until we have the numbers."
[] Turn and fight
"Wait until they're close, then throw us into reverse. Mecha will disembark and the Ahriman will throw everything it has at the approaching ship. Kick their teeth in before they can get the upper hand."
Additionally, choose your mecha loadout:
[] Hit 'Em Hard
Anti-Material Rifle (Heavy, Range 20, 2d6 dam)
Mortar (Main, Range 15, 1d6+1 dam)
Hand Cannon (Auxiliary, Range 5, 2 dam)
Tactical Knife (Auxiliary, Range 1, 1d3+1 dam)
[] Hit 'Em Fast
Heavy Machine Gun (Heavy, Range 8, 2d6+4 dam)
Assault Rifle (Main, Range 10, 1d6 dam)
Pistol (Auxiliary, Range 5, 1d3)
Tactical Knife (Auxiliary, Range 1, 1d3+1 dam)
Just remember that we're good in hard situations and at attacking.
I'm pretty sure holding to just the right moment and then kicking their teeth in is right up our alley.
Which mean we need to decide what tools are best for that roll. We chose the jack of all trades I believe, so we have a well rounded trio, but I think we might need a demonstration of the combat system to make a fair judgment of our load out.
Nothing ruins a quest more than finding out you're running a shit build when you thought anything would work.
